Reverse planning gives you a simpler way to run MRP in Business Central. Instead of letting the standard planning engine flood you with reschedule, cancel, and reorder suggestions, reverse planning focuses on finding the items that actually run below zero and creating new order suggestions for them.
You start with a two-step approach. First you run a simple MRP that only finds your critical items without creating any suggestions. Then you run a full simple MRP that suggests quantities and transfers them into the reverse planning worksheet, including dependent demand for components.
The first run is an MPS (master production schedule) that looks only at direct demand. The second run works like a normal MRP, processing level by level through the low-level codes (LLC).
The key difference from standard MRP: reverse planning only creates suggestions for new orders. It does not cancel, it does not reschedule, and it creates only one line per item.
Start with simple MRP to find critical items
After installing reverse planning, begin with the simplest possible run. Open the simple MRP planning worksheet and use the default setup that ships with the app. The first thing to do is find your critical items.
Use the template called “find critical items,” which should already be in your system. The point of this template is that it does not run or carry out anything. If you look at the fields Auto to Run, Suggest Quantity to Order, and Carry Out to Journal, none of them are check marked. You can confirm this by opening the template card for finding critical items.
The template includes all the normal demand and supply: sales orders, purchase orders, assembly orders, production orders, and so on. It triggers on an inventory level of zero, meaning it flags an item only if the end inventory drops below zero.
If an item dips below zero within a period but recovers by the end of the period, that is not treated as critical. It is only a matter of dates you need to look at. But if the item ends below zero, you want to look at it.
Because this template does not suggest quantities or carry anything out, the lines stay in the simple planning worksheet. Nothing is moved into the reverse planning worksheet, so no dependent demand is created. This is pure MPS planning for the direct demand you have.
Run this first on your main location to find your most critical items.
Run full simple MRP to create suggestions across all levels
Once you have identified the critical items, run simple MRP again with a different template that handles critical items at all levels.
The planning parameters stay the same. You include the same supplies and demands, you use the same location, and you still trigger on zero end inventory. The differences are in two settings.
- The template automatically suggests the quantity to order, based on the setup in the template. You can change this.
- The template carries out actions. This does not create the actual order. Instead it transfers the items into the reverse planning worksheet.
By transferring the items, the run also creates dependent demand for all the components you need if it is a production item. The run is processed per low-level code: it carries out LLC code zero first, then one, then two, and so on. This makes it behave like a normal MRP job.
When you run this template and filter on your production location, you expect to end up with no lines in the simple planning worksheet, because every line it creates is transferred to the reverse planning worksheet.
How dependent demand appears in the reverse planning worksheet
After the full run, the simple planning worksheet is empty, but the lines are now in the reverse planning worksheet.
Instead of just the two top-level lines you identified as critical, the worksheet now contains those two lines plus everything that flows down through the hierarchy. The first two lines created the dependent demand, and the components below them are now flagged as critical too.
You can navigate into the components for the first lines. For example, the components needed to build 10 bikes appear, and they become part of the next calculation through the levels.
What makes reverse planning different from standard MRP
Reverse planning works like a standard planning worksheet and a standard MRP, with three important exceptions:
- It only creates suggestions for new orders.
- It does not cancel and does not reschedule existing orders.
- It creates only one line per item.
That is the whole idea behind the app: a focused, simpler planning run that highlights what you actually need to order without the noise of full standard MRP.
Q&A
What should you do first after installing reverse planning?
Run a simple MRP using the “find critical items” template on your main location. This template does not suggest quantities or carry anything out. It only identifies items that end below zero in inventory, so you can see your most critical items.
What does the “find critical items” template do?
It includes all normal demand and supply (sales orders, purchase orders, assembly orders, production orders) and flags any item whose end inventory drops below zero. It does not run, suggest, or carry out anything, so the lines stay in the simple planning worksheet and no dependent demand is created. This is an MPS run for direct demand.
How does reverse planning create dependent demand for components?
When you run the full simple MRP template that suggests quantities and carries out actions, it transfers the suggested lines into the reverse planning worksheet. For production items, this creates dependent demand for all required components. The run processes each low-level code in order (zero first, then one, then two), so components flow down through the hierarchy.
What is the difference between reverse planning and standard MRP?
Reverse planning only creates suggestions for new orders. It does not cancel or reschedule existing orders, and it creates only one line per item. Standard MRP produces reschedule, cancel, and reorder suggestions across the board.
What happens if an item drops below zero only within a period but not at the end?
It is not treated as critical. Reverse planning triggers only on zero end inventory, so a temporary dip during a period that recovers by the end is just a matter of dates and is not flagged.